Thinking of going Paleo? For those of you just starting out who don’t really have a clue what Paleo is, you’ve got plenty company – come join me in the “newbie” club. I’m not a nutritionist or fitness expert. I’m just a girl who wants to be healthy.

I’m fortunate to have lead a pretty healthy lifestyle growing up in the Northwest. I exercise moderately but I am not training for a CrossFit competition or anything like that. While I know revving up your cardio is a good thing – I’ve done the P90X DVDs – my goal isn’t getting into the next Olympics unless someone hands me free tickets.

Honestly, I’ve been lucky and have never been too far over my ideal weight, despite loving my Italian dishes. Even so, I’ve tried the low-fat diet, the vegetarian diet and the Mediterranean just to find something that would make me feel healthier. When I did the low fat thing, my food choices were too limited and I never really felt good. This was in the late 80’s and I was skinny and looked like crap.

When I decided to have kids, I had serious problems conceiving. So I decided I would be a vegetarian. Bad idea – I was tired all the time. You have to remember this was the late 80’s; not a lot of choices out there in the supermarkets and restaurants.

So, being a girl from the Pacific Northwest I added fish. Light bulb moment! Wild salmon had always been part of my diet since I was a kid! Suddenly I felt much better. Then I added other lean proteins like chicken and turkey. And that’s pretty much how I have eaten for the past 20 years until a few weeks ago.

That’s when my husband starting researching the Paleo diet for a marketing client. My hubby was interested in the whole Paleo concept and he filled me in on the basic idea. It all made sense to me. Eating whole foods and cutting out the refined sugars and processed foods.

I’ve had some problems with my digestive system over the years. Nothing serious that I needed to see a doctor about, but enough that I restricted some foods and didn’t feel all that great sometimes.

My husband suggested we take the Paleo plunge and I thought, why not? He’s a guy that has always been healthy and in reasonable shape, and if he did his homework and thought it was worth a try, I was onboard. Well, weeks later here we are and I can say Paleo is totally different than any other way of eating.

First off, I’m not hungry. Ever. How awesome is that? And second, my digestive system is super-happy. I’m not bloated and I’ve noticed my energy is up during the workday and don’t have my typical 2pm nosedive anymore. My energy level stays fairly consistent throughout the day. I feel younger, happier and I sleep better. This is kind of a miracle for me. All I know is I want this to continue.

That being said, I’m not a 100% Paleo girl. I need to be able to throw a gluten-free pizza in the oven if I want to. If you’re a Paleo freak reading this, venture on to your Paleo pure place, because its not here. This is a place for people learning about Paleo like me.

I don’t claim to be perfect and don’t wanna be. Margaritas and an occasional glass of wine are part of my life as well. The one thing I have learned about living a fairly healthy lifestyle for over the past 20 years is its OK to give in to temptation once in a while. Cupcake anyone?

I know the hardcore Paleo people won’t tolerate anything less than 100% compliance. Please no hateful comments, thank you. This site is for real people who just want to live healthier, won’t be serving brains and bone marrow for dinner, and don’t want to feel guilty when they cheat once in a while.

My only goal is to share my experiences with like-minded people interested in exploring a new way of eating that makes your body and mind feel really good.

Let’s take baby steps and do this together. My husband and I have learned a lot already, but there’s a lot more we need to figure out. Why don’t you join us on our imperfect journey?

My hope is we can all share experiences, recipes, tips and tricks for living the Paleo lifestyle in the real world. People that want to be healthy, happy and occasionally raise their hands up and cheer (maybe with a cocktail) that they have a great life and want it to continue for a long, long time.